Daily Life at the Ninja Academy

Once Naruto had settled into his seat, the students in front of him began chatting with him.

After introducing themselves, both sides gained a preliminary understanding of one another.

Naruto did not know that, in the corner of the classroom, a Byakugan girl with short pale-purple hair was silently watching him. Her little face was slightly red, and no one knew what she was thinking.

After all the students had finished introducing themselves, Iruka led them to collect their textbooks, and they moved on to a stage the students were familiar with.

A large crowd of students immediately gathered around Naruto and Sasuke.

Naruto also gained a rough first impression of his classmates.

Some came from major clans, while others were commoners.

From their initial interactions, there were several people he could try to befriend.

"Sasuke, Naruto, hello. I-I-I'm Sakura Haruno. I hope we can become good friends." At that moment, Naruto saw the pink-haired girl approach while pulling along a blonde girl, her face full of bashfulness.

"My name is Ino Yamanaka. Although I introduced myself earlier, I'm sure you didn't remember. You have to remember from now on, okay?" Compared to the seemingly shy Sakura Haruno, Ino Yamanaka was much more warm and open.

"Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka? You're both very pretty girls. I'll remember you." Naruto smiled and spoke gently.

At Naruto's praise, Sakura and Ino immediately beamed with delight.

Beside them, Sasuke could not help rolling his eyes as he grumbled inwardly.

Naruto never held back when complimenting girls, yet he was always extremely strict about his own training results.

Sasuke was still just a child. After training so hard, he always hoped to receive praise from his companions.

But every time, all he got was Naruto's gentle, "Not bad, but you still need to work harder."

It left Sasuke deeply frustrated. He wanted to be praised too.

The ninja lessons that followed were exceptionally boring. Everything Iruka taught was very basic.

Naruto had already learned it all from books.

Besides the basics, Iruka also taught subjects related to the Will of Fire and the will of a ninja.

Naruto had long since committed those things to heart.

When it came to understanding the Will of Fire, he could absolutely be called a master.

He could even write a sequel on the Will of Fire.

After school.

Naruto and Sasuke walked side by side to the entrance and waited for Rock Lee.

The three of them headed for the training grounds together.

The moment they entered the training grounds, they saw Naruto's clone training with great enthusiasm.

"Naruto! You were secretly using shadow clones to train!" Sasuke's eyes widened as he raised his voice.

"No, I've always openly used shadow clones to train." Naruto answered with a smile.

"But I thought you'd relax a little on your first day at the Ninja Academy."

"That's what you thought. You've known me for so long—do I look like someone who slacks off?" Naruto set down his backpack and began stretching.

"On the other hand, Sasuke, you slacked off."

"Hmph. I did think about being lazy today." Somewhat ashamed, Sasuke hurriedly set down his backpack and started stretching as well.

Meanwhile, Rock Lee had already begun jogging.

"Rock Lee really is the most hardworking," Sasuke could not help saying.

"I don't have talent like you two. I can only rely on hard work." Rock Lee scratched his head foolishly, flashing a mouthful of bright white teeth.

"You're already the strongest in our grade." Sasuke's tone was somewhat sour.

Not long ago, during practical combat, Rock Lee had made a stunning debut, defeating all sorts of peers and instantly establishing himself as the strongest in their grade.

He had even defeated Neji Hyuga, the former number one, successfully proving that a commoner who trained in Taijutsu could also surpass a genius.

Under Naruto's influence, Rock Lee no longer wore green jumpsuits or flashed a mouthful of bright white teeth from time to time like in the original story.

Instead, he began dressing like Naruto, in a white robe over a black skintight combat suit. Every time a battle began, he would toss the white robe into the air, and he had that showy aura down perfectly.

Yet even so, Rock Lee still had no little female admirers.

Maybe something had gone wrong somewhere.

Ever since meeting Naruto, Sasuke's motivation to train had grown day by day.

In order to defeat Naruto, he had sought all kinds of methods to grow stronger from Itachi.

He also usually used the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to assist his training.

But his recovery ability, total Chakra reserves, and tolerance for pain were inferior to Naruto's, so he could only use one shadow clone at most to assist with training.

And after every use, he needed several days of rest.

This made Sasuke deeply realize that if he blindly focused only on Taijutsu, he would never catch up to Naruto and Rock Lee.

So, with Itachi's help, Sasuke began studying ninjutsu and the nature transformations of Chakra.

Although progress was slow, there had at least been some headway.

Everyone began their own training. Naruto sat cross-legged on the grass with his eyes closed, Kyoka Suigetsu placed before him.

The Reiatsu within his body boiled and swirled as Naruto entered a state of utter tranquility.

He sensed every trace in the air and detected the ninjas watching from nearby.

Naruto remembered what Aizen had once said.

Mastering a Zanpakuto's Shikai was merely the beginning; beyond that lay the even more powerful Bankai.

There were also nearly a hundred forms of Kido, all requiring even greater control over one's Reiatsu.

Given the current situation, Bleach powers clearly provided him with a greater boost than ninja powers did.

In order to gain the strength to protect himself, Naruto devoted a great deal of time every day to training his Bleach powers.

Beside him, Sasuke curiously looked at the dark green Kyoka Suigetsu.

He had once asked Naruto why he was so fond of that sword, why he brought it along every time he went out.

Naruto would always give him a meaningful smile.

Then he would say:

"When you can force me to use Shikai, you'll know this sword's power."

Shikai?

What was that?

With that question in mind, Sasuke kept working hard, hoping that one day he could probe the full extent of Naruto's strength.

After becoming a student at the Ninja Academy, Naruto's life had not changed much.

He had been steadily building up his strength and had not even used Kyoka Suigetsu's Shikai yet.

In the days that followed, Naruto also became familiar with the students in his class.

Among the great clans, Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akimichi, and Shikamaru Nara of Ino-Shika-Cho were the friends he had set his sights on.

The clans behind them were the backbone of Konoha.

Naruto thought highly of Shikamaru Nara. He knew Shikamaru Nara was highly intelligent and could often see the essence of things.

Choji Akimichi was not bad either. Though he was a little gluttonous, he was the sort who would go through fire and water for his friends.

As for Ino Yamanaka, aside from being a little lovestruck, she had no major faults.

What surprised Naruto a little was that Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno seemed uninterested in a warm, caring type like him. Instead, they liked cold-faced men like Sasuke—the kind who stirred desire precisely because they could not be had.

Every day on the way to and from school, they would cling to Sasuke and do their best to show themselves off.

It gave Sasuke a terrible headache.

At one point, he even asked Naruto for help.

But Naruto merely watched the drama from the sidelines with great amusement.

In the dull life of the Ninja Academy, the budding affections between young boys and girls were a rather nice diversion.

Compared with Sasuke, Naruto, who always wore a gentle expression like the friendly older brother next door, was clearly more likely to earn his classmates' affection and trust.